BCHS patrons approve bond sale

Voters approved the sale of $9.85 million worth of general obligation bonds to finance a major facility improvement project for Beaverhead County High School’s main building as well as improvments to the B.W. Lodge Gym building and construction of a new vocational-technical structure.

The election was conducted by mail-in balloting, and the results are unoffical until canvassed, according to Debbie Scott, Beaverhead County's elections administrator.

The BCHS district trustees cited the need for the improvements as they sought to begin addressing deficiencies and code violations cited in the 2008 State of Montana Building Conditions Survey and a 2016 Facilities Assessment Report.

In seeking permission to issue the bonds, the trustees said the district’s operating budget could not cover repairs, and that other mandated upgrades could be better addressed through a school improvement project.

They noted that it has been almost 50 years since the school invested in a major capital improvement project with the construction of B.W. Lodge Gym.